


In A New Light

by afteriwake



Series: Simple As It Should Be [3]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-18
Updated: 2012-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 12:48:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/515388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She's got such a unique scent about her and he can't figure out what it is...</p>
            </blockquote>





	In A New Light

She was standing so close he could smell her shampoo. At least, he assumed it was her shampoo; it was something floral and sweet. Maybe it was perfume, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was the scent fit her perfectly. He could have sworn she smelled like lilacs, just like his mother.

They were on the steps of his complex instead of in his apartment. Since he'd gotten out of the hospital, she'd continued to spend time with him. For some reason, and he wasn't sure what, she wasn't comfortable in his apartment. He'd run into her the last time she came by as he was heading out to refill his pain meds, and they'd walked through his neighborhood together and sat on the steps when they got back. She'd seemed so much more comfortable that he suggested it immediately when she came by today.

Right now, though, they weren't sitting. He was standing behind her as she braided the hair one of the neighborhood girls. Charlotte had come up to the steps, her face covered in dirt-streaked tears and Lindsay had gotten a look on her face as the girl explained what had happened. Most of the people in the neighborhood knew Flack was a cop, and the kids came up and told him if they were getting bullied or if things weren't right. He was used to it, and he didn't mind at all.

But Lindsay...he wasn't sure if she'd be okay with it. But when Charlotte said that some neighborhood boy had been dared to pull her braid and now it was all ruined, Lindsay got a sympathetic look on her face and offered to re-braid it for her. The girl's face lit up and she turned her back to Lindsay so the woman could braid her hair. It didn't matter that Charlotte didn't know Lindsay; Lindsay was with Detective Flack and that was enough for the girl to trust her.

So he was standing, watching, listening to Charlotte as she told Lindsay who she was and things like that, and he smiled at the sight. Lindsay really was an interesting woman. The more he got to know her, the more he honestly _liked_ her.

Lindsay finished the braid, and turned the girl around. "You're all done," she said.

Charlotte reached up and felt the braid. "That's even better than the one I had before!"

"I used to braid things for my horses a lot," she said. Flack watched the girl's eyes grow wide and knew Lindsay had made a new friend.

"You have horses!"

"They're still in Montana, but yeah, I do." Charlotte looked like she wanted to say more, but she must have realized the two adults had been talking, and Lindsay picked up on it. "How about I tell you about them the next time I come visit my friend?"

She nodded. "Okay. Bye, Lindsay! Bye, Detective Flack!" And with that, the girl ran off down the street where her friends were waiting.

"Bye, Charlotte!" Flack called after her.

"Cute kid," Lindsay said quietly. She turned to face Flack, a smile on her face.

"She lives here in the building. Her mom's a single mom taking care of Charlotte and Tabitha. She's a real sweetheart, actually."

"Sounds like you know a lot about your neighbors."

He shrugged. "The kids, mostly. I'm looked at as the neighborhood problem solver. Not a bad position to be in, actually."

She nodded, and he inhaled her unique scent one last time before she sat down on the step. A random thought crossed his mind: he knew they could officially be called friends now, but...was he sure that was all he wanted to be with her?

He pushed the thought from his mind and sat down next to her, enjoying her company for as long as he had it.


End file.
